INTERSTELLAR ERA: MY MIND IS A LIBRARY

The gap between both of them was crossed in a breath.

Billie slashed forward, her katana arcing toward Silas’s neck.

Silas ducked, driving his katana in an upward slash.

A loud chime echoed through the air as Billie blocked the attack with the flat of her blade.

Without wasting motion, her leg shot forward, aimed at Silas’s head like a bullet.

Silas was too close to dodge. He bore the full force of the strike, his head snapping backward from the impact.

Billie did not linger. She stepped closer, her blade arcing toward his neck yet again.

Silas regained control in that moment, leaping backward just in time to avoid the attack.

Billie’s left hand moved flawlessly, as if she had been waiting for Silas to commit to that movement.

A dagger appeared in her palm as she thrust forward.

Silas parried, barely.

He stumbled backward, his posture breaking under Billie’s relentless pressure.

Billie followed without pause. Her katana and dagger moved in tandem. High, low, left. The angles kept shifting before Silas could fully address the previous one.

He blocked what he could, dodged what he saw, and absorbed what he could not avoid with his aether.

"What sort of combat awareness is this?" Silas wondered in dismay. If someone like her had been on site, he would not have had to face Han alone.

"Focus on the fight," a voice whispered close to his ear.

Before he could react, a slash tore across his chest. His aether dulled the pain but the force still pushed him back another step.

Billie did not give him reprieve. She drove her katana forward in a straight thrust toward his throat.

Silas knocked it aside, using the brief opening to step sideways before lunging forward, katana moving in a blur toward Billie’s neck.

Billie’s eyes widened for a moment. Shock, which she had not shown since the fight began, flickered across her face.

But she reacted almost instantly.

Her dagger flashed upward, blocking the slash with the flat of her blade.

A tremor passed through her bones but she held on.

Silas pressed on, taking advantage of the momentary break in Billie’s rhythm.

His leg shot forward at Billie’s stomach.

She skidded a few steps back, barely holding her ground with the aether coating her stomach.

They split apart as if mentally linked, both scrutinizing the other.

Silas moved first, not wanting to give Billie the headstart she needed.

His katana was replaced with a spear in a breath.

He pierced forward, aiming directly for Billie’s head.

Billie sidestepped calmly, stepping into striking range with her katana.

Silas reacted instantly, blocking the slash with the shaft of his spear.

Billie groaned, jumping back just in time to avoid a thrust aimed at her neck.

Her body suddenly surged with blue as aether flooded through her body and weapons.

She lunged forward again, the floor beneath her shattering into rubble from the force of her step.

Silas mirrored her, flooding his body and weapon with aether.

He pushed forward with equal strength, switching his spear back to a katana in the same breath.

Metal clashed against metal, sending a sharp gale of wind that sliced through the walls of the training room.

The floor beneath them trembled, then exploded into debris.

Silas moved first once again, withdrawing his katana and slashing forward in the same motion.

Billie, as if reading his movements, ducked beneath the katana with deft ease and drove her dagger upward toward his chin.

Silas jerked his head back, the tip of the dagger grazing his jaw.

He did not mind. He moved instantly, bringing his elbow down onto Billie’s head.

She absorbed it, her body dropping low. She answered with a rising slash that forced Silas to twist away.

She rose in the same motion, her katana arcing toward Silas’s neck.

Silas stepped back, letting the katana miss.

The blade tore through the space he had occupied moments ago.

Silas did not wait. He kicked her katana hand, forcing her to roll to the side.

He stabbed his katana toward her head, stopping only a few inches away.

Not because he chose to stop, but because Billie blocked with her dagger.

She shoved him back using the dagger.

The floor beneath her cracked as she leapt up, driving her dagger toward Silas’s chest.

She dropped her katana entirely, focusing solely on the dagger.

Silas dodged, his body dipping low.

A feint. Billie’s leg shot upward, smashing against Silas’s jaw. He was lifted into the air, landing on his back with a thud.

The sound of bone cracking echoed through the room as blood flew from Silas’s mouth.

From the audience, Max frowned.

He looked at Alfred, as if to confirm a thought.

Alfred nodded calmly.

"I think she got too jealous when I praised him," he shrugged.

Max shook his head.

He would not stop the fight since neither fighter had asked to forfeit.

Amelia tightened her fist as she watched the duel.

She too could do nothing.

"The tension makes it feel like a life or death duel," Bryan joked, drawing laughter from everyone around him.

Silas stood up, a smirk plastered on his face.

He did not utter a word. His body flashed forward like a phantom.

Billie’s senses heightened beyond normal as she tried to catch a trace of him.

Her body moved on instinct, raising her elbow to block Silas’s punch.

The pain stung, but she could not care less at that moment.

Silas followed up with a kick aimed at her head.

Billie responded with equal ferocity, her knee raised in defense.

Again, it felt like being struck by a rock.

Silas halted his assault, stopping a few meters away from her.

He punched forward from his position.

Realistically, the punch should not have reached. He was too far away.

But reality seemed to agree with him at that moment.

A blast of pure aether shot from his fist, tracing the path of the punch.

Billie could not avoid it in time. The aether smashed into her, hurling her into the wall at the far end of the room.